Ninth City Burninghits shelves September 6, 2016.
And I know thats how all the kids around me must be feeling this very second.
But its different for me now.
Im not a bad student, really.
The trouble is, whenever I sit down to study, I end up picking up the Academy Handbook.
Like maybe I just missed it the other hundred million times.
Oh, and theres nothing about photosynthesis, either.
Pencils down, cadets.
Thats Danyee, our rhetor.
Everyone in Sixth Class Section E has her for biology, physics, and irrational mechanics.
All around, there is the sound of chairs creaking from beneath desks.
She smacks it down like someone swatting a fly, then glances up to see if anyones noticed.
On a normal day, this girl would be in for some big-time trouble, but not today.
If theyre still alive tomorrow, they can talk about punishment then.
It isnt like people are mean to me.
If anything, theyre extra, extra nice.
Actual officers will stop and salute me, or congratulate me, or ask to shake my hand.
The kids in Section E seem proud to have me, usually.
Today, things are different.
Today, everyones nervous.
They know that in a little while, their lives could depend on me.
The last line of defense.
Whos never been really, really good at anything.
Even Rhetor Danyee seems tense.
I dont blame them: I wish they didnt have to depend on me, either.
Each of us has been doing atmospheric-incursion drills practically since we learned to walk.
As a section, our best time is classroom to shelter in three minutes and forty-two seconds.
Its all so familiar, I almost forget this is the real thing.
